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Friday, April 25, 2014

This is one of the most special quilts I have ever made. When I first saw the pattern, I knew I would make it for my niece one day. Problem was, at that point, I didn't have a niece. However, now I do! She was born a couple of weeks ago, and she is the cutest and sweetest baby ever. Of course. :)

The quilt pattern is "Bloom" by V & Co. The original quilt is larger, and has a white background. I didn't think so much white was a good idea for a baby quilt, so I used some Robert Kaufman Quilters Linen print in Silver or Platinum (can't remember which I ultimately chose!) I have a few notes on the pattern at the end of this post, because as written, it didn't work well for me.

(Sorry for the indoor pics. The weekend we visited her, there were 45 mph wind gusts every day. An outside photo shoot wasn't going to work well!)

I quilted the background (I did not quilt over the flowers) with a paisley design. I quilted the whole thing in about 3.5 to 4 hours, and my wrists were NOT happy with me about that decision the next day! But it looks so great, if I do say so myself... so it was worth it. :)

The backing is from Jenean Morrison's True Colors. It is such a neat, busy print! If you're new to FMQ, it's just the type of backing that will hide a multitude of sins, because you can barely see the quilting at all on the back of the quilt.

My niece, A, is not a huge fan of the quilt yet. But hopefully that will change. :)

Unfortunately, the method for turning petals outlined in the Bloom pattern did not work for me! Like, at all. I tried some practice petals, and the small ones in particular did not work out. The pattern calls for using a very, very thin fusible web, stitching it to the petal shape, then cutting a slit in it and turning the petal inside out. This... was a disaster! The fusible web (and I made sure to buy the one listed in the pattern) was too fragile to allow fabric to be pushed through it, and it invariably ended up shredding all the way to the edge, resulting in a sloppy, unevenly shaped petal.

What I ended up doing was tracing the petal template onto heat-proof template plastic, and then cutting out the petals with a 1/4" seam allowance. Then I "painted" starch onto the edges and used a mini iron to fold them over. After they cooled, I took the template out. As you can imagine, this was fairly time consuming. However, I did end up with petals that looked very nice and had smooth edges. I used Roxann's glue to lightly glue the petals in place before I stitched around them.

Friday, April 18, 2014

I've probably mentioned it in my last few posts, but my friends, apparently in the true spirit of Easter and spring, are popping out kiddos like rabbits. Consequently, I have two more baby quilts finished! I'll show the first one today, and the second one next week.

Apologies for the phone pics. Worst quilt blogger ever, I know.

This quilt's destination was North Carolina, for a friend whose wedding I was in last fall in Nantucket! (You can see her wedding quilt here.) I guess when you're making some major life changes, you may as well do them all at once, right? She is definitely the kind of person who can handle them all without missing a beat though!

Last fall, I won a mini charm pack of Boho by Urban Chiks at the Omaha Modern Quilt Guild meeting. Very cute, if not totally my style. But it is definitely the style of this friend! Problem is, what do you do with a mini charm pack? I know I'm not the only one with this problem, which is why I recommend the quilt pattern I used so highly.

The pattern is "Waiting" by Amanda Jean Nyberg, and you can purchase it on Craftsy. It's a quick and easy pattern, and the instructions are easy to follow. But best of all, it uses one mini charm pack--for a whole quilt! It's genius. I want to hug Amanda for coming up with that pattern.

I used Robert Kaufman's Essex Linen in Natural (I am pretty sure) for the background. This was a new one for me, but it was great to work with, and I think that it was just the right look for the Boho line and for my friend, who is a bit of the outdoorsy/Natural Mama type. (I don't know why linen seems "outdoorsy" or "natural" to me--maybe it's because I used the color "natural"?)

I'm not sure who determined that babies love owls, but they're on everything these days. Some diligent Facebook stalking determined that the owl theme had carried into this baby's nursery, so I took that as my cue for the back. I used Owlery by Michael Miller for the back, and I have to add that I'm super proud of how straight I got the backing on the quilt!

Now all this quilt needs is the baby, and that should happen in a few weeks!

The recipient sent me this photo of the quilt in its new home! Nailed it.